A. Triglycerides
Triglycerides are the major component in naturally occurring fats and oils. A triglyceride is the condensation product of one molecule of glycerol with three molecules of fatty acids to yield three molecules of water and one molecule of triglyceride: ##STR1##
A fatty acid is an aliphatic compound containing 4 to 24 carbon atoms and having a terminal carboxyl radical. Naturally occurring fatty acids, with only minor exceptions, have an even number of carbon atoms and, if any unsaturation is present, the first double bond is generally located between the ninth and tenth carbon atoms. The characteristics of the triglycerides are strongly influenced by the nature of their fatty acid radicals (the components of the triglyceride contributed by the fatty acids are also commonly referred to as esters or simply acids). Some of the more common fatty acid radicals in naturally occurring fats and oils are listed in Tables I and II according to the fatty acid from which they are derived.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Saturated Fatty Acids Common Name Chemical Name Formula ______________________________________ Caprylic Octanoic C.sub.8 OOH Capric Decanoic C.sub.10 OOH Lauric Dodecanoic C.sub.12 OOH Myristic Tetradecanoic C.sub.14 OOH Palmitic Hexadecanoic C.sub.16 OOH Stearic Octadecanoic C.sub.18 OOH ______________________________________
TABLE II ______________________________________ Unsaturated Fatty Acids Common Name Chemical Name Formula ______________________________________ Caproleic 9-Decenoic C.dbd.C.sub.9 OOH Lauroleic 9-Dodecenoic C.sub.3 .dbd.C.sub.9 OOH Oleic 9-Octadecenoic C.sub.9 .dbd.C.sub.9 OOH Linoleic 9,12-Octadecadienoic C.sub.6 .dbd.C.sub.3 .dbd.C.sub.9 OOH Linolenic 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic C.sub.3 .dbd.C.sub.3 .dbd.C.sub.3 .dbd.C.sub.9 OOH ______________________________________
The distribution of the different fatty acid radicals vary among the naturally occuring fats and oils. For example, the distribution by number of fatty acid radicals in soybean triglycerides is about 55% linoleic, 22% oleic, 11% palmitic, 8% linolenic, 3% stearic, and 1% other whereas the distribution in coconut oil is about 48% lauric, 17% myristic, 8% palmitic, 7% capric, 7% caprylic, 5% oleic, 4% stearic, 3% linoleic, and 1% other.